Young men prepare to receive their degrees from Howard University in June 1942

Howard University Was Founded
November 20, 1866
The first students entered Howard University in May 1867. General Howard, who was Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau from 1865 until 1872, directed considerable resources to the university, including the original 3-acre campus, the Main Building, and the Old Medical School. Before the Freedmen's Bureau was dissolved in 1872, it had helped in the building of 45 hospitals and the education of approximately 150,000 former slaves.